County may up meal allowance for some

Published: Monday, November 25, 2013 at 09:42 AM.

PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Commission is considering increasing meal allowances as officials are poised to take another trip to Washington, D.C.

Commissioner Mike Thomas brought up the idea this week at a commission meeting, saying the county’s $6 breakfast reimbursement was too low.

“It is impossible for them to eat … on what is in our reimbursement package,” he said, adding, “I think that’s wrong.”

By way of comparison, Thomas said he ate a $21 breakfast at a Hilton in Daytona Beach while attending a Nov. 13 RESTORE Act meeting. He said staff shouldn’t lose money when it goes out of town for county business.

Thomas also criticized the time restrictions for meal reimbursements. In order to get the breakfast credit, staff must start traveling before 6 a.m. and be on the road until after 8 a.m. There are similar restrictions in place for the $10 lunch and $20 dinner reimbursement.

Thomas favored a clear-cut approach to meal reimbursements.

“As long as they stick to three meals a day — and no alcohol, drugs or any of that stuff involved in it — we ought to pay for what it is,” he said.

PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Commission is considering increasing meal allowances as officials are poised to take another trip to Washington, D.C.

Commissioner Mike Thomas brought up the idea this week at a commission meeting, saying the county’s $6 breakfast reimbursement was too low.

“It is impossible for them to eat … on what is in our reimbursement package,” he said, adding, “I think that’s wrong.”

By way of comparison, Thomas said he ate a $21 breakfast at a Hilton in Daytona Beach while attending a Nov. 13 RESTORE Act meeting. He said staff shouldn’t lose money when it goes out of town for county business.

Thomas also criticized the time restrictions for meal reimbursements. In order to get the breakfast credit, staff must start traveling before 6 a.m. and be on the road until after 8 a.m. There are similar restrictions in place for the $10 lunch and $20 dinner reimbursement.

Thomas favored a clear-cut approach to meal reimbursements.

“As long as they stick to three meals a day — and no alcohol, drugs or any of that stuff involved in it — we ought to pay for what it is,” he said.

The idea was broached a day before county attorney Terrell Arline headed to Washington, D.C., on a three-day trip to meet with lawmakers and the U.S. Department of the Interior staff about the RESTORE Act. The county is considering a second Washington trip in December, but hasn’t decided what staff would go.

The commission took no action this week and it’s unclear if the expenses Arline incurred on this trip could be recouped under the new rules if an adjustment is made.

The county has no cap on plane tickets and hotel rooms for travel. Arline’s plane ticket was $700. (A quick search of Southwest Airlines flights between Northwest Florida Beaches International and Baltimore/Washington International Airport found prices ranging from about $250 roundtrip to a little more than $700, depending on the travel dates; Delta Air Lines’ prices were generally higher.)

When driving, employees are reimbursed at 56.5 cents per mile, and the county pays for tolls and other expenses.

Arline was the only county employee on the recent trip. He was accompanied by a federal rules lawyer the county hired to help with RESTORE Act. Her expenses were paid by the $10,000-a-month retainer the county pays to her firm.

The county should be able to recoup these costs once the RESTORE Act money — which could be tens of millions of dollars — comes through, Arline said.

County Commission Chairman Guy Tunnell supported Thomas’ idea at the meeting and echoed his concerns staff could lose when doing out-of-town business.

“We ought to at least look at it; I know for years it’s been a problem for employees,” Tunnell said in an interview Thursday.

Tunnell suggested giving county employees a flat per-day rate for meal expenses or just letting them bring back their meal receipts and, so long as they’re within reason, approving the reimbursement.

“I think if somebody has a T-bone steak for breakfast, you know, and it’s $47.95 for breakfast … we’ll look at that with a pretty close eye,” he said.

Tunnell felt that $10 for breakfast in a big city was reasonable and said meal costs should be reviewed on a “case-by-case basis.”

The County Commission asked staff to research the policy and come back with some information and details on it at the next meeting.

Thomas wouldn’t provide any numbers on what he thought would be appropriate for meal reimbursements. He said it depends on the location.

“In different parts of town, the state and the country, food costs vary, and I think that if it’s a member of staff we’re sending out of town [to] do business for the county, we could trust them enough to be careful with that and bring us a receipt,” he said via email.

Thomas said often business and conference travelers are taken advantage on meal prices, and agreed the county would likely wind up paying more money. But he’s OK with that.

“… [W]e should pay for our employees to be comfortable and well fed while they’re off doing our business,” he said.

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